In a decision recently issued by the Utah Court of Appeals, CDC Restoration & Construction, LC v. Tradesmen Contractors, LLC et al., the court broadly interpreted the preemption clause in the Uniform Trade Secrets Act (“UTSA”) to hold that it “preempts claims based on the unauthorized use of information, irrespective of whether that information meets the statutory definition of a trade secret.”
With various modifications, the UTSA has been adopted by all but a handful of states. One of its provisions expressly preempts conflicting tort and other common law or statutory civil causes of action “for misappropriation of a trade secret.” (The preemption provision does not, however, preempt contractual or criminal remedies, regardless of whether they are based upon misappropriation of a trade secret, or other civil remedies not based upon misappropriation of a trade secret.)